Distrust
by supremegreendragon
Summary: Even after the Pacifist route, Sans is unsure if he can trust Frisk. Frisk doesn't blame him, considering that Chara has been pestering them since the very beginning. Will Frisk find a happy ending with their new family? Or give into temptation and listen to Chara? Gender-neutral Frisk. Family/angst. No emphasis on any pairings.
1. Chapter 1

I step out of the way just in the nick of time. The bigger kid almost hit me square in the jaw. He glares when his fist only hits air. He has his friends circling around us so that I can't run away. They're jeering and waiting for my demise, but to be perfectly honest, I'm not scared. I've dealt with a lot worse before.

"Punch back! What kind of sissy are you?" the bully growls.

I never fight back. Mommy Toriel made sure I knew that inflicting pain on someone is a terrible thing to do. So even when someone is being mean, I don't fight.

Hugging the bully didn't work. He just shoved me away. I tried talking to him, but he doesn't understand sign language. But I can't give up. There has to be something else I can do.

I blow a kiss at him. The bully's face goes red and at first, I thought he was flattered. Then I realize that it's red out of anger. I'm unable to dodge the next fist.

"Oh no. You hit it!" One person says. People who like me call me them/they. People who don't call me it.

"Let's get outta here."

Feet stomp away, leaving me on the ground for someone to find. But nobody is left at school. All the teachers left already and I'm sure the bullies were the last kids left.

Mommy Toriel might get mad at me for missing the bus again. I shouldn't have listened to those guys. I shouldn't have followed them when they said they wanted to play. But it's too late for regrets now. I get back on my feet, my hand covering my eye. It hurts and feels warm, but I don't cry. I'm not much of a crier.

Looks like I have to walk home now. Sans and Mommy Toriel don't get off work until a little later. However, Papyrus will be there and he'll wonder where I've been. And I won't be able to hide my eye if it's black.

 _If you had a knife, a real one, no one would have hurt you._

It's that voice again, the one I grew up with. This voice has pestered me ever since I can remember and always tells me to do bad things. I don't like it at all.

It takes me about an hour of walking to get home. I thought I could get there sooner but I guess I'm not fast enough. I take in a deep breath and open the door.

Our home is a nice one but it only has three bedrooms, so I have to share with Papyrus. But that's okay because I feel like Papyrus is my older brother. Sans…I'm not sure how to feel about Sans. My first thought is to think him as an older brother too but…he seems to really like Mommy Toriel. It makes me wonder if I should think of him as a step father or something. Or maybe an uncle.

The minute I go inside, Mommy Toriel is in front of me. A flash of relief shows up on her face before a look of horror replaces it.

"Frisk! What on earth happened?"

I stare at her, pondering my options. I still believe that I can make these bullies nice. I can't tell her the truth.

 _Yeah right,_ the voice tells me sarcastically, _Admit it. You want them to pay for what they've done to you. Tell on them all. Better yet, make them sound really, really bad. Tell Toriel that they all spat at you and called you ugly and kicked you and tried to kill you._

No, he just punched me. Lying like that is terrible.

 _Does that mean you're going to tell her the truth then?_

Mommy Toriel is still expecting an answer. I use my sign language to say that I lost track of time, missed the bus and ran into a tree.

Mommy Toriel seems suspicious. Fortunately, Papyrus comes in before I have to explain myself any more.

"Oh good. You're here. I'll call Sans and let him know that I—the great Papyrus—have found you."

A lump of dread fell into the pit of my stomach. Sans had been looking for me? Oh no. Papyrus used to call Sans lazy but now the skeleton is working two jobs without taking advantage of all the legally required breaks. As a matter of fact, Sans can only stay until dinner, then he has to work a night shift somewhere else. This is the only time he's allowed any rest.

And I ruined it for him! I feel so guilty.

"Sans. They're here. They're here! Yep. See you soon."

"I'll go make dinner," Toriel says.

 **I wanna help.**

"Of course, my child," replies the female monster, "Wash your hands and we'll get started."

Mommy Toriel's rules is that we can only have spaghetti once a week. Papyrus doesn't like this rule too much and often complains about it, but she's insistent. I smile when I go into the kitchen and smell peppermint ice cream pie. She's so cool. She can make pie out of anything.

We mix up the ingredients and my stomach rumbles. I smile when Mommy Toriel places the tater tot casserole in the oven. I really like her cooking. She asks me to set the table while she cleans up. I make sure to place a cold bottle of ketchup in San's spot. Every time he gets home from work, he likes to say how he needs a drink. I know it's silly, but he likes to drink ketchup.

Sans makes it home. He stops short when he sees my face. The skeleton is usually pretty laid back, but he looks so tense right now. The way he's staring at me almost makes me worry.

"What happened?" he asks.

"They said that they ran into a tree," Mommy Toriel answers for me.

Sans glances back down at me, "Is this true, kid?"

I nod. Sans stares at me for a very, very long time. Is he waiting for me to say something else? Is he…waiting for me to tell the truth? My heart plummets at the thought.

 _Maybe he wants to kill you. That's why you got to kill him first._

No! Sans would never hurt me and I would never hurt him. I hate you, voice!

 _I know I'm right. Sans will kill you in your sleep. Look at the way he's glowering at you._

He's just tired.

 _He hates you._

I refuse to believe it. At least, I try to refuse. But it's getting harder and harder to ignore the voice. The more it talks, the more I find myself starting to believe it.

Papyrus hugs me from behind, mercifully ripping me from my thoughts.

"Goodie! We get pie tonight!"

 **Papy, we always get pie.**

"Yes but they taste better each and every day!"

I smile at that. Sans sits at his spot. Papyrus and I get to sit together for dinner. It makes it fun because we can chat secrets to each other while the other two weren't listening. I use to think that Papyrus was the mature brother. Now I know better.

I hope Sans is happy with the human world. He's not as laid back as he used to be and his smiles always look a bit more forced than usual.

When we finish, Mommy Toriel takes me upstairs to my room. It's a really cool bedroom, with toys that she got for me. I have a toy box with a few balls and some MTT brand toys. There's also a few dolls and one skateboard too. It's really neat.

My bed is a simple plain white bed. I want a car bed like the one Papyrus has, so I'm going to ask Santa for one when Christmas rolls around. Mommy Toriel smooths out my hair.

"I'll go talk with Sans. Please stay here, my child."

I frown. Doesn't Sans have to go to his other job soon? What's going on?

She looks at me in a way that tells me to behave. I gulp up at her. Am I in trouble?

Mommy Toriel leaves the room. Fidgeting, I grab a ball and begin kicking it back and forward from the room. I stop when Sans opens the door.

He has his usual grin on his face, but I can't help but wonder if it's forced. Something about his eyes are hollow and tired. I wish I knew how to help but. I can't do anything so long as he refuses to tell anyone what's wrong. Not even Mommy Toriel can get him to open up.

"'Sup, kiddo?"

 **Your show is on.** I remind him. It's the only time of the day where he can watch television.

"Don't worry about it. That cop show is getting a bit repetitive, so I'm giving the tv a-rest," he chuckles at his pun. I can't help but giggle a little too.

The laughter stops too soon. Sans rubs his temples in a desperate attempt to keep himself awake. I had never seen him this tired before. It's hard to watch.

I give him a hug. He accepts the embrace for a second before looking me in the eye.

"Thanks, kid. Listen. Toriel needs you to be honest with her, alright?"

I don't respond. The skeleton pats my head, his finger bones rummaging through my hair. It causes me to smile. It used to feel weird when he did that, but now I love the feeling.

"You know how smart she is. And not to be insulting, but you're a terrible liar. Take my advice, kid. It will be better to just tell us what's up. Who hurt you?"

My heart stops. The ball underneath my feet rolls across the room, forgotten. Sans waits for me to respond, but I can't find the words to tell him.

I just stand there, shaking in my shoes. I don't know why, but something about Sans scares me right now. He's changed ever since we got to the surface.

Sans looks away and shrugs.

"Of course. You don't have to tell us anything. But don't think you fooled us. We're a lot smarter than you give us credit for."

I frown. I don't think they're stupid, so why is Sans insinuating that I do? It kind of hurts my feelings that he thinks that way.

The skeleton makes his way out the door. Before he goes through it, he says one last thing to me.

"Frisk, if I wake up in Snowdin…."

My eyes widen. Does he know? Does he know I still have the power to reset? To erase everything that happened?

He pauses for a moment, then leaves without finishing his sentence. I stare after him, feeling ashamed.

" _I told you he hated you. He knows what you're capable of."_

A single stray tear falls down my face. Defeated, I lie on the bed and begin to sob.


	2. Chapter 2

San's P.O.V.

I kick myself when I hear the kid starting to sob in the other room. My bony fist hovers in front of the door for a few seconds, then I give up. I can't bring myself to apologize right now. Then I would have to explain what I meant. And truth be told, I really didn't want to go there.

Someone shoot me for even mentioning it to them. But there's no helping it now. I had just let Frisk know that I'm aware of the resets. I shove my hands in the pockets of my hoodie, my tired eye sockets staring down at the floor.

I have been exhausted for so long. And it isn't the kind of tiredness that could be cured with a little R and R. It's the kind of mental exhaustion that went far past any of that, the kind that almost makes you too tired to keep living. Yeah, I'm a pathetic wreck I know.

My footsteps carry me back downstairs. I'm relieved that Toriel is nowhere in sight. I wash my face real quick, put on a fresh shirt and head out the door.

"Sans?"

Putting up my usual smile, I turn to face my brother. His concerned look almost makes me frown. He told me that he doesn't need a bedtime story anymore. Maybe he changed his mind?

Nah, I can't fool myself into thinking that's what's bothering him.

"What's up, bro?"

"Are you going to work already? I thought we could…hang out?"

This actually does make it harder to smile. If Frisk doesn't kill me, then Papyrus's childlike innocence certainly will. I scratch my head, feeling bone on skull. It's my way of showing someone that I had to think real hard about what to say. In reality it's a comfort gesture on my part. I think that's because someone I used to know would often scratch his head when he was thinking.

Heh. I wonder if Papyrus remembers him. Probably not. He was way too young when it happened.

"Aww Paps, it's nice o'you to think about me. But I gotta keep up our rent somehow. Tell you what, I'll take the day off this weekend."

Papyrus doesn't believe me. I can tell by the frown on his face. I hate it when he looks so sad. My brother suddenly perks back up like a thought just came to him.

"Well, what if I told you that I found a help wanted poster? You see, since I am so great, I know I'm qualified."

"Nah, bro. I told you that you need to focus on the Royal Guard stuff," I cut him off, knowing full well where he's going with this.

He's pouting now.

"I can focus on that and a full time job at the same time. Besides, I think it will be fascinating to work with humans. It will give me a better understanding of their economic practices!"

I frown. That's exactly the reason I don't want him getting a job on the surface. A lot of humans aren't taking too kindly to the fact that monsters have left the underground. And the last thing I want for my brother is for him to be exposed to their prejudices. Papyrus is just too innocent for that.

They all are: Toriel, Undyne, and even Alphys has a kind of innocence that bypasses bigotry. None of them could understand that someone could hate them simply for being different.

Aw heck. Frisk is probably just as naïve too. At least in this timeline. I know they're going to reset soon. They must be planning on it. I ain't going to fool myself into thinking they're going to ignore the urge forever. Every kid in their situation would abuse the power that Frisk has.

I frown at the thought. Will Frisk change after several resets? Will they remain just as sweet as now? I'm worried that, without repercussions for their actions, they'll grow bold in their choices and decide to do something…bad.

Can Frisk be bad? It's hard to imagine it.

"I mean…I know you don't want me to," Papyrus clearly takes my frown the wrong way, "But I think it will be a valuable experience for me. The job is at a gas station real close to my favorite shopping spot too."

"Hold the phone. Gas station? Bro, they might want you to work overnight."

Papyrus considers this.

"Well…I am an adult…technically."

Stars, maybe it would've been better if they had stayed where they were. I withhold a groan.

"I need to get going. We'll talk about this later, alright?"

Papyrus's only response is a frown.

"Alright? Sorry bro, but I got to get going."

I shut the door as fast as I can so I don't have to hear his protesting. Sinking my hands inside of my pockets, I begrudgingly make my way to my car.

I'm shocked when a human cop _doesn't_ pull me over. They've been doing that since the very beginning. They must all be bothering some other unfortunate monster with their bs. Heh. Thinking about it almost makes my eye want to glow just to calm me down.

My second job is a waiter at a late night waffle place. The signs outside boldly proclaim that monsters are allowed, which can either hurt an establishment's chances of getting a lot of money or help it. Monsters will be willing to eat there sure, but more humans are against having them around than there are in support of monster rights.

At least my boss is only a greedy manipulative jerk that loves taking advantage of someone's need for a paycheck, no matter how small. It's better than him being a freaking bigot. He screws everyone over equally.

The guy counts the seconds until I'm here. Despite what Papyrus may think, I'm a good worker if I want to be. And these days I have to be. My boss is relieved to see me, nothing unusual. I start my rounds. In all honesty, this job is a little better than my other one. At least I get more monster customers in this place.

A tired looking man beams when he sees me. Most humans call him a dragon, but he's actually just a big lizard with wings. And yes there is a difference, not that most humans care to spend enough effort finding out. I feel sorry for the old man. He should be in retirement, but he's trying to make ends meet just so he can stay on the surface. I almost want to ask him if seeing stars is worth the trouble.

"Hello Sans. Just the usual."

"Sure, Mr. Wren. Need me to refill your cup?" I gesture to his coffee.

"No thank you lad. I need to try and get some sleep tonight."

I quickly jot down his order and hand it to the cook. The cook is human, but I'm not quite sure how to read him. He's always scowling at me, but then again, he scowls at everybody. So maybe he doesn't care if I'm a monster.

Or maybe he does. It's hard to tell sometimes if humans are generally unfriendly or if they just hate monsters. Frisk is an obvious exception to this rule. I'm bringing the orders out at a reasonable pace when I overhear talk coming from a table that isn't even mine.

"You can't be serious."

"Will you look at him?" the human snuck a glance at Mr. Wren when he thought the monster didn't notice, "You think those teeth are just for decoration?"

"It's been a few months and I haven't heard of a monster eating anyone," his friend said.

Oh no, not this stupid rumor again. I grind my teeth. I tell myself that I cannot get involved, even though I'm getting angrier every day I have to deal with this crap.

Papyrus's offer didn't help me either. I loathe to think him out there dealing with the same thing I am. Toriel has to deal with it too, though not as much since she has a school made up entirely of monsters. Undyne and Alphys still work for Asgore, so they're relatively safe too. But if Papyrus got himself a job, then he would be labeled a freak just like I am.

It's because of people like Einstein over there that makes life so hard on us monsters. At least his friend isn't so quick to listen to him, so I can give humans credit where credit is due.

"Why do you think we got rid of them in the first place? Because they wouldn't stop eating human children. I see you're laughing, but would you think it's funny if they tried to eat your daughter?"

I set down the plate a little too loudly. Mr. Wren gives me a look that demands I stay out of this. Another monster is watching everything from a distance, sipping at her coffee with trembling hands. She's just as tired as all the rest of us, but must've decided to take all the abuse.

"I…I don't know. Dude, what if they can hear you?"

"They would've attacked if they can. That's the only way they react to anger."

I can feel my pupils leaving their sockets. It's a thing I do when I'm particularly angry and unwilling to have my eye glow. The burning eyes can be relaxing for a skeleton, but it causes a lot of pain. It's essentially built up magic that has no other outlet because anger makes it harder to control. Anger makes magic do more damage, sure but a lot harder to handle.

Ignoring Mr. Wren's silent advice, I go up to the table. The two men stare at me in awe, no doubt feeling safe since this table belongs to a human waiter. The man who spouted out all that nonsense glares up at me. His friend just looks like he's been caught in a tight and awkward place.

"What do you want?" asks the bigot.

I snap my bony fingers and cause a pitcher of water to levitate above the bigot's head. He cried out when I poured the water all over him.

"What the—"

"Language," I smirk, feeling exhilarated from my momentary victory.

Like I expected, the guy came charging at me. People like that are so predictable. Being so low on HP has made me an expert at dodging attacks. It throw myself out of the way with extreme ease, just before he can land in a punch.

His friend shot up.

"Hey, both of you. Stop!"

His friend isn't listening so I'm not going to either. The guy tried punching me again. He got the same results. As mad as I am, I don't even think about attacking him. I might accidentally kill him in my moment of rage and he's the last person worth gaining EXP for.

I manage to laugh after his fifteenth desperate attempt. But my victory was doomed from the start anyway.

"Sans! What are you doing?" it's my boss's voice.

I stop short, barely managing to dodge another attack while my attention is on him. His face is as red as the inside of a Vulcin.

"Get out of my restaurant. You're fired."


	3. Chapter 3

**Frisk's P.O.V.**

It's weird to walk into class with everyone staring at me. It happens every day. Even the teacher looks at me like I did something really bad.

 _I always knew she deserves to die. She hates you for freeing the monsters. Can't you see, Frisk? This is why I hate humans._

But I'm a human too.

 _No. You're better. We're better. We are gods. Don't you ever wonder why you have the power to reset? No one else can do what we can._

"Frisk," the teacher's voice snaps me back to reality, "Will you kindly sit down?"

It wasn't a question. It was an order. I sit in my chair, ignoring the feeling of eyes on my back.

While the teacher is at her chalkboard, someone tosses a crumbled up note on my desk. I read it. Whoever wrote it said that they're going to kill me.

I have faced death before, but this time I'm really scared. I don't think I can talk things out with humans like I could with monsters. They don't listen as well. I've tried many times to get them to stop fighting. Nothing I did worked.

 _Sounds like your little mercy tactic isn't worth snot._

Please leave me alone, voice. I can't handle you today.

I'm startled when I hear laughter in my head. It doesn't sound like anything a human or a monster could make. It sounds sinister. Like how Asriel sounded when he was confused and hyped up with six souls in his body.

 _Oh. Sweet little Frisk can't handle the truth today, can't they? What are you going to do if I don't stop huh? Give me a warm blanket and a hug and hope I don't kill you? He was right, you know. In this world—in any world—it's kill or be killed._

You're wrong. I did just fine without that policy.

 _Sans wants you dead. The reason he's so stressed out is because you're still on the planet. He knows that as long as you're around, his happy ending can vanish at any moment._

Tears are starting to form.

You're wrong!

But I feel my determination grow weaker.

 ** _He wants to kill you and make it look like an accident!_**

"No!" with that cry, I jump out of my seat and cover my ears, "No! You're wrong!"

I just barely hear the teacher stomp her foot.

"Frisk! What is the meaning of this absurd behavior?"

Everyone is laughing at me. Laughing at how miserable I am. I want to go to Mommy Toriel's school. I want to study with monsters.

"Settle down, class," the teacher turns to me, "I do not know how things may work with your monster family, but this is a human classroom. You need to act like a human."

 **Can I be excused?** I ask.

"You're more than excused. You're going to the principal's office and explain to him why you disrupted the whole class."

My face burning with shame, I scoop up my backpack and leave as quickly as I could.

The principal's office is always cold. I shiver when I step inside the room. The principal eyes me warily like I'm about to attack him. He puts his pen down and stands up.

"Miss Travis has informed me that you jumped in class and tried to yell."

Of course I didn't make any sound. I can't do that. I'm surprised that I forgot that.

He's waiting for an explanation. I have to move my fingers really slowly. Mr. Locke is not very good at reading sign language.

 **I didn't mean to.**

"You didn't mean to jump out of your seat?"

I don't have a response to that. He rubs his temples while giving me a look. I shiver, and not from the cold this time.

"Frisk, look. I know you're dealing with a lot right now. I understand. You don't know if you're a boy or a girl—"

That's not true. I chose to be both. Why can't he understand that?

"—And on top of that, your parents are gone. I'm going to be honest with you, Frisk. I don't know if staying with monsters is the best thing for you."

When I realize where he's going, I start to frown. He waves it off.

"Don't get me wrong. You're the only child who escaped the mountain and you should be very proud of yourself. You're famous worldwide and you're only nine years old. But now it's time for you to go back to a human family. You can be around normal people like the ones at the orphanage."

 _What a tool. 'Normal people?' Heh. He doesn't understand anything. Asriel was the first friend we made. Everyone else ignored you because you couldn't talk. All the monsters know what you're saying because they're not stupid like Einstein over here._

I hate to admit it, but I agree with the voice. And I hate the term 'normal.' Who decides what's normal and what isn't? Some grownups are so bossy.

Mr. Locke eyes me when he sees the scowl on my face.

"Can you at least think about it? If we had your permission, we can take you to a safer place."

….Safer?

 **I'm safe with Mommy!**

My hands goes a little too fast for him, so I have to start over more slowly. He takes a few seconds to process what I said.

Then he gives me a very chilling stare.

"What you're calling your mother is actually a goat."

I gape at him like a goldfish, my jaw practically on the floor. Once the shock subsides, anger pokes at my chest. It's the seed that wants to explode.

 _You hear that? He said 'what!' That's what he thinks about monsters. He doesn't even call them 'who.' That's our mother that he's calling 'what.' Are you going to tell me he deserves mercy now?_

My face flushes. I jump out of my seat and try to yell at him. He's angry because he knows what I'm trying to do. If my voice could come out, I would tell him how wrong he is. I would tell him how great Mommy Toriel is. _I would tell him to go die in a ditch—_

No I wouldn't!

 _Yes, you would._ The voice laughs. They're enjoying seeing me lose control.

"Sit back down," he orders. I don't listen. I can't really explain it, but it feels good to lose control. It feels good to let my rage out on other people. My thoughts dwell in a step deeper. I'm actually thinking about hitting him.

I can't believe it. I actually want to hit someone!

 _Do it! Make me proud to be a part of you. Hit him. You won't gain any LOVE if you don't kill him, so it's okay._

I raise my hand, but at the last minute drop it back down to my side.

 _Coward._

But my recovery came too late. Mr. Locke already saw what I was about to do. He's angrier now than I ever seen him. I think his face is getting to be as red as a fire truck.

He picks up the work phone and starts to dial a number. I sit back down, any trace of anger gone in a flash. He's talking to someone over it, saying something about taking me back.

My heart leaps out of my chest. Is he actually planning on taking me back to the orphanage? No way! Mommy Toriel wouldn't let that happen, would she?

 _I told you we should've killed her._

I feel close to tears. There are times when I want to cry but just can't. This is one of those times. If Mr. Locke sees me crying, maybe he would go easy on me.

 _Fat chance._

Please be quiet. You're only making things worse!

 _Oh, I'm sorry Frisk._ The voice says sarcastically, _Next time I'll try harder to give a crap._

The principal slams the phone back down on the receiver, startling me out of my thoughts.

"I called one of the bus drivers. They'll take you back home."

I frown.

 **Why am I going back home?**

Mr. Locke furrows his brows in displeasure, looking at me like I'm some nasty bug on his dinner.

"Misbehaving in class."

But that was a first offense. I thought the rules were that I had to get in trouble three times in one day before I have to go home. And even then, my family has to be notified. I don't see him calling anyone else. Is he waiting for me to leave before calling Mommy Toriel?

 _Get real. He called her a 'what.' He thinks she doesn't have the right to be notified._

I give the principal a scowl. Which is not like me. But I decide that between the voice and the principal, I know whose side I'm on.

I leave him to his shock. The driver doesn't try to talk to me, even though I'm the only passenger he has. He knows who I am. I have a feeling that has something to do with it. He doesn't even say goodbye when I get off the bus.

My heart hammers as I think about having to explain myself to Papyrus. Would he tell Mommy Toriel?

But when I enter the house, I realize something is very off. The house is too quiet. Papyrus has a certain aura about him that demands attention. You would know if he's in the house or not. Besides, he's usually making some sort of noise, since he seems to hate silence.

I want to call out to him. I hate being alone. That's why I disobeyed Mommy Toriel in the ruins when she told me to wait for her.

 _You could go outside and look for him._

Mommy Toriel told me not to go outside without an adult.

 _What does she know? We walked the entire underground by ourselves. We didn't have adult supervision._

Sans watched over us, remember? He told us.

 _Oh, you mean the guy who hates us? And we died a few times thanks to that buffoon. Heh. Doesn't that prove he hates us? He didn't do anything when we were attacked._

I don't want to talk about Sans.

 _You brought him up._

Before I could do any more arguing with the voice, the front door opens. Papyrus has a big smile on his face, even bigger than usual.

"Guess who just got a job? I'll give you a hint. It's me!"

It takes me a second to get over my shock.

 **Where were you?**

Papyrus is too ecstatic to notice my distress.

"Getting a job. Frisk, you're looking at the new employee of Get 'N Go. The best gas station in the world," Papyrus suddenly whispers, "They're paying me to say that," then in his normal volume, "Now for a limited time only, you can get a 56 oz drink for just a dollar. Quench your thirst with Get 'N Go first!"

He's so happy. Despite everything that happened, I can't help but be happy for him. I smile, then I have a thought.

 **Does Sans know?**

Papyrus frowns real seriously. It unnerves me to see him this way.

"Well…." He recovers his smile, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

 **You're not going to tell him?**

He pats me on the back.

"Let's this keep this a secret between us. Please?"

He looks at me pleadingly. I have a bad feeling that this is not a good idea. But he looked so happy that I would hate to make him sad. I nod.

Papyrus nearly jumps for joy.

"Splendid! I knew I could count on you, Frisk! Just you watch, I'm gonna be useful. I'm gonna help us live a normal life. By the way, shouldn't you be at school?"

I sigh. Now I have to explain myself. I know Papyrus won't be mad, but what would Mommy think?

And what would Sans say?

* * *

Author's Note: Just so things are clear, I'm not against anybody who portrays Frisk as male or female. It's just that in this story, the gender neutral plot point is being used to add to the drama. I hope I didn't offend anyone by this.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been reading so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**San's P.O.V.**

I take a sip of the drink. It's a dangerous drink. A wonderful drink. A drink that will soothe all my pain. Skeletons can ingest food like humans, but their metabolism is different. Just half a glass of beer could get me drunk. So far I had two glasses.

I chuckle, stumbling my way towards the house. It's impossible for me to get my hands to stop shaking. I can't even dig into my pockets to get the key.

Fortunately, the door opens by itself. Toriel glares at me. It's so funny to see that I laugh out loud.

"It's four in the morning. You have to get to work in a few hours and now you don't have enough time to get a good rest. What is the meaning….Are you drunk?"

She is so funny! I laugh and I laugh and I laugh. My laughter echoes throughout the whole neighborhood. That will probably scare some people to hear a monster laugh. Maybe our human neighbors will think I'm about to go on a killing spree. Wouldn't that be so funny?

The woman in front of me could only stare with pity in her eyes. Why isn't she laughing too? Our whole life's a joke, right? Might as well laugh about it.

Her furry hand goes behind my back, gently pushing me inside. I nearly trip over my own two feet.

"Aarh dey en bed?" I slur out. Toriel understands me anyway. What a good woman.

"Yes. They're both fast asleep. Let me get you some coffee. I know you're not going to bed now."

She sits me on the table, then goes to start the pot. I listen to her move around, my eyes downcast on the ground. I keep smiling, no matter how hollow my grin is now. I just have to keep smiling. The happiness will come eventually, right?

"I got fired."

I hear her shuffling cease for a moment. A second later she recovers. She turns on the pot then sits down next to me.

"Maybe two jobs is too much."

I shake my head. My entire body trembles with rage. Yet my smile still remains intact.

"I can't get us money fast enough. The mortgage is out of control. And they're not paying me enough to keep up. Not paying us enough."

Toriel purses her lips.

"I might be able to get a weekend job…."

"You too? I already told Papyrus that working for humans was a bad idea. You have no idea what they're like."

"I'm sure some are like Frisk," she argues.

 _Like Frisk._ The child that will eventually choose to reset. To make all of my efforts worthless.

I couldn't tell Toriel that I'm afraid of the kid. She wouldn't understand.

"Not too many. Like 90 percent of 'em hate all of us. One said I smelled. Do I?"

"No, Sans. You smell fine," she sighs, "Call in sick today. Please? I really think you need some rest."

I tremble, "No….n-no. I can't afford—"

"You'll get fired from your other job if you go in like this."

My eye sockets grows heavy. A dry sob escapes my throat. Toriel's hand rubs my skull. She brings my head on her lap and I let her treat me like a child. Just being near her brings me momentary comfort. I loll to sleep.

I snap awake when I had the sense that something's wrong. With growing horror, I glance over at the clock. It's eleven in the fricken morning. I should've been at my job hours ago.

I yank myself off the couch and scramble to get myself ready. I nearly bump into Toriel on may way into the kitchen. She's in the middle of pouring some batter into a pie dish. Her eyes widen when she sees me nearly running into her.

"Sans, what's wrong?" she asks. She should know that I'm not supposed to be here, so her confusion leaves me bewildered.

"I…uh…"

The goat woman sighs, cleaning her hands with a spare towel.

"I called you in sick today. Your other job was very understanding."

"What? Tory, I can't afford—"

"Then you shouldn't be getting yourself drunk at three in the morning," she scowls.

I guess she's right about that. But calling me in sick was financial suicide. Especially when that's the only job I have left. The goat woman notes the disgruntled look on my face. She rubs her temples.

"You haven't had the weekend off in a while, anyway. Maybe we can all go to a picnic later, okay?"

Frowning, I just look at her without saying anything.

"Alright?" she says again. There's nothing else I could do, so I nod my consent. She smiles in relief when I don't argue with her. I stuff my hands in my pockets and lean against the door. There's nothing else I can do, I guess.

I might have been about to fall asleep standing up, because a startling sound jolts me awake. The kid had ran inside the kitchen to show Toriel a bug that they had caught. The beetle bites down on their thumb in a vain attempt to get away, but the kid doesn't seem to notice.

Toriel stares at the beetle in their hand.

"Oh! I see you've captured a bug friend."

Frisk nods. They look like they want to say more, but with their hands full, they're unable to communicate. Toriel offers them a smile.

"You are going to let it go after a while, right?"

Frisk gives her a disgruntled look. She points her finger up toward the ceiling with a firm hand on her hip.

"That bug probably has a family to feed. You don't want it to never see them again, do you?"

Frisk suddenly smiles a not-so-innocent smile that catches me off guard. It's the kind of smile that gets happiness out of people's suffering. It's like they're thinking about the bug's misery and were getting some kind of sick joy out of it.

I'm not the only one caught off guard by their expression. Toriel is shocked beyond words. Unable to say anything, we both stare at Frisk in silence. Then, the child's expression softens to one of sadness. It's the kind look we expect to see on Frisk's face, not the evil one we saw a second ago. They nod.

It takes Toriel a moment to recover from her surprise.

"Good. Take it back outside and then you can help me with the pie."

Frisk nods again and walks away. I can't get their expression out of my head. I turn toward Toriel.

"Gotta check on something. Be right back."

Good thing that I have a knack at sneaking around. I guess it's just a talent that I've always had. I'm not very easily detected if I don't want to be. So Frisk has no idea that I'm following them closely. I watch them pull open the sliding glass door in order to get outside.

Curious, I watch them gently place the beetle on top of a sunflower. Their smile is just as innocent as before.

Huh. Maybe I had just imagined that evil on their face. The kid didn't seem any different than norm—

CRUNCH!

The kid's shoe makes impact with the beetle's much weaker body. I could only stare in horror as the kid snickers softly to themselves. I back away. My thoughts are going a million miles an hour.

On the one hand, it was just a bug. Plenty of people had killed their kind before. On the other hand, the kid's only motivation seems to be for the sake of being cruel. There's literally no other reason they would do something like that.

I walk away from what I just saw.

"Hehehehe! Greetings, dear brother! I see you've decided to take a vacation!" Papyrus walks down the stairs to greet me. I force my usual grin, but right now I'm not in the mood to perform my usual puns. I hope he doesn't notice.

Papyrus's eye sockets furrowed in slight concern. I guess he did notice after all.

"Is everything in order, brother?"

"Why you ask?" I shrug.

"Your smile is not as….smiley as usual."

It's getting harder to keep my grin up, considering that it's not fooling my little brother. But I keep strong. It's the only thing I know how to do. Papyrus shuffles his feet.

"Well, I wanted to tell you that I will be forgoing bedtime for a while."

My head snaps in his direction. That sounds suspicious.

"For what?"

Papyrus averts his gaze, suddenly looking very guilty.

"Eh….I'll be doing some lessons with Undyne. King Asgore has reinstated the Royal Guards, so I need her to help me practice."

"Can't she help you during the day?" I don't have too much of a problem with him staying up all night. I just have a problem with him out and about at night. I guess I'm a little overprotective when it comes to things like that.

"Well, she's busy with other things. She only has time at night."

I guess that makes since. Still, I can't help but feel like Papyrus is hiding something from me.

A thought crosses my mind. Oh, I get it. Papyrus is thinking about looking for work while he's out and about. He really wants to help out with money, huh?

I close my eyes and sigh. I would talk to Alphys about getting him a job in the underground. A few monsters decided to stay inside the mountain after dealing with humans' prejudice. It would be the only safe place for him to work.

Instead of calling Papyrus out on his lie, I decide to just roll with it. I give him a thumbs up and a smile. He grins back.

"So it's okay?"

"Sure, bro. I gotta say, you're growing up fast. I'm proud of you."

Papyrus stares at me in shock. Was that a blush on his face? It's not impossible for a skeleton to blush, since we have warming magic inside our bones to make that happen. Still, our blushes aren't as obvious as a human's, so it's kind of hard to tell.

"Wowie. That's the nicest thing you've ever said."

I shrug with a sheepish smile. I pause when I hear the doorbell ring.

"Hold that thought, bro?" I had designated myself to be the one who always answers the door. When I'm at work, Toriel takes the role, even though I wish she would just ignore it. I don't trust anyone in this neighborhood, so it's a protective act on my part.

A guy's gotta keep track of his family.

I'm relieved to see that it's not a human full of hate. It's King Asgore, looking like a normal peasant in his pineapple printed shirt and bulky jeans. He smiles at me, though I wonder if it's a tad force. Truthfully, I don't think he likes me too much. But I never bring that up.

"Hey Sans. Is Tory home?"

"Yep. Making another pie," I hold the door open for him to enter. He does with thanks, "Nice of you to stop by."

"Thank you."

"Who is, Sans—Oh," Toriel's happy face immediately hardens when she sees her husband. I'm surprised they're not divorced yet. Toriel never looks happy to see him.

"Hi, sweetie."

"Don't you 'sweetie' me. I told you to let me know before you visit," she crosses her arms.

Papyrus and Frisk comes in to see what's going on. Frisk smiles at Asgore. The smile is so sweet that it's hard to believe what the kid did just a few minutes ago. What is going on?

Frisk comes over and hugs Asgore's waist. The king goat rubs his furry hand against their head.

"Nice to see you too, child. I see you're doing well."

"Well," Toriel uncrosses her arms in defeat, "Come inside and have some coffee. I made a fresh pot. Frisk, Papyrus, can you set the table. We'll have pie with our coffee."

The old lady is going to make us all fat with how much pie she makes. This time it's a caramel apple pie. I don't know how she keeps mixing two main ingredients into a delicious pie, but she does.

 **When are you going to make butterscotch-cinnamon again?** Frisk asks.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't want to make it too many times because it's my best recipe, and I think it will taste better for special occasions."

Asgore suddenly says, "I think it's always delicious no matter how many times you make it."

Toriel gives him a sharp look. She can read his intentions like a book. He wouldn't be able to fool her with kind words.

"Thank you, Asgore," she says sternly.

I take a bite out of my pie.

"You know. No matter how bad things can get….It'd be a shame if this all is erased."

Everyone looks at me with question in their eyes. Frisk stares at me with fear. I can see their forks trembling in suppressed terror.

"What do you mean, Sans?" Toriel asks.

I keep my eye dead set on Frisk's, monitoring their every change of expression. I'm looking for that evil look they had when they killed the bug for fun. So far they only look terrified.

"I'm just rambling. I guess sometimes I worry that all this goes away. That I wake up one day and monsters are still trapped. That Frisk is still trying to get out…." I notice Frisk furrowing their brows, "I feel like any minute now, it will all go back to the way it was."

 _And maybe that's a good thing,_ I suddenly think to myself, _After all, it's not like things has gotten any better. We were probably happier not dealing with all these humans and their prejudice._

A loud clank as Frisk drops their fork. Toriel turns her attention straight toward them.

"Is something the matter, dear child?"

 **I gotta go lie down.**

With that, the kid bolts out of there like a dog that Papyrus caught chewing on his bones. Everyone stares at each other in question. I frown, setting my fork down before standing up.

"I'll go talk to them," I offered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Frisk's P.O.V.**

I take in a sharp breath as I bury my head into my pillow. I feel like crying, yet the tears refuse to come. I guess I cried all my tears out the other day. So instead I choose to just lie there in misery. I can feel my other self poking into my mind, much like someone tapping me from behind. It's their way of trying to get my attention.

Taking in a deep breath, I turn to face them. This time they're more than just a voice. They had managed to develop a spiritual form in front of me. Unlike me, they smile almost all of the time, even when they're upset. But their smile isn't contagious like Undyne's or charming like Papyrus's. They have the smile of someone who thrives on the misery of others.

 _I guess that's proof enough, huh? He knows._

I guess you're right.

 _So you agree,_ Chara comes closer, _Then you know what we should do._

I don't. I have no idea what you mean.

Chara sighs in frustration. Their smile is still intact, but their brows furrow in displeasure. The expression is very unnerving thanks to the fact that I know Chara is upset. Sometimes it seems like Chara has no choice but to smile, like they're under some spell that makes the grin permanent or something.

 _I'm talking about getting rid of him once and for all. Right now he's too strong for us to kill._

I won't kill Sans! I'd never!

Chara continues like they didn't hear me.

 _It looks like we have no choice. We have to reset._

I stare at them in horror. I managed to reset before, but that was only after I died. Now that the monsters are free and there are no more save points, I know that resetting would take me back to the very beginning. Back before I even met Mommy Toriel. That will make everything I ever did all for nothing.

 _All for nothing? It will all be for fun. You had your fun befriending everybody and flirting around with everyone in sight. Now you should let me have my fun._

Your fun involves killing!

 _It's either kill or be killed, remember? Sans will get us if we don't do something soon._

I will never reset!

They frown at me.

 _Then let me take control._

They enter inside my body until I can no longer see their spiritual form. A second later my hand is trying to move on its own. I wrench control away from Chara. That's when they start to attack.

Chara shoots out waves of pain. This is their way of attacking and trying to gain the upper hand. I force their influence away. I manage to hold them off, but only for a little while. Then they make another few strikes. Our spirits fighting like this causes my body to start doing weird things—

 _OUR body!_

-and I start to spasm like I'm having a seizure. I move around the room, tumbling as if I'm performing a very weird dance. Chara has taken control of my body before, but only in fits and bursts. Right now they're trying to do much more. They want permanent say in what we do from now on.

And for the sake of my family, I can't let that happen.

 _Just let me take control! Whatever happens won't be your fault, so you won't have to blame yourself if I kill anybody. It's fine, Frisk._

Stay away! I said no!

We hear someone open the door. I stop what I'm doing, but it's too late. The look on Sans' face told me quite clearly that he saw me.

"Everything alright, kid?" he asks.

 _I knew it! He's here to finish us off. Quick Frisk. Grab something to defend ourselves with._

But I'm too scared to move or try and say anything. Sans waits a little while longer for me to respond. He must've realized that I didn't know what to say. The skeleton stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks up toward me.

I inhale sharply. Maybe this is for the best. I finally manage to use my sign language appropriately.

 **Are you going to fight me?**

Sans stares at me in shock.

"Fight you? What're you talking about, kid?"

I swallow.

 **It's okay. I understand. I'll let you.**

 _What are you doing? Don't let him kill us! Then we'll have to reset….Oh….Maybe you 'should' let him kill us._

No. I'm not going to reset ever again. I decide that I'll just stay dead.

 _Tough words for a liar._

Meanwhile, Sans continues to stare at me like I had grown a second head. Then he suddenly sighs.

"Look kid. If this is about what I said, I'm sorry."

I tilted my head up to meet his eye sockets. Sans scratches the back of his skull sheepishly.

"So, I guess you know by now that I know. About the…you know…the thing I know you know….Y'know?" He smiles like that was a joke. But it's a force grin at best. I frown at him.

 **You're talking about the reset button.**

"I know you have a very special power. And that power can let you reset whenever you want. You can make everything never happen in the first place. Best of all, only you'll remember what you did in the past life," Sans shrugs, "Thing is. Even if I wouldn't remember any of it, I don't want all our work to be for nothing. I don't want to see you fight your friend all over again."

Shocked, I can only gape at the monster in front of me. How does he remember Asriel? Everyone else forgot about that fight. I overhear Chara growling behind me.

 _I knew it. He's just been playing around with us. And I know he's been hiding more than that too. Maybe he even knows about me? Maybe that's why he wants to kill us._

No. Sans wouldn't kill anybody. Not even you.

 _You sure about that? Suppose, hypothetically, I was the one who faced off with Papyrus at Snowdin. I don't think he'd be very forgiving if I killed his only brother._

"Look kid. I know I already apologized, but I know I was a jerk for saying those things."

 _Give me control, Frisk._

"And I should've talk to you about this a heck of a lot sooner."

 _I need to finish him off before he strikes._

"I shouldn't have been so mean about it either. I should've just taken you aside somewhere and talked to you in private about resetting. I wanted to ask you to never do it. Frisk, can I get you to promise that?"

Then, Sans makes a mistake. He reaches over to pat me on the head. It's something that I'm used to, the only problem is that he's doing it while Chara's having a meltdown. When he reaches for me, Chara loses their mind. Their fear gives them enough power to take complete control over my body.

Sans draws back when he notices me—or Chara—staring at him. I try to wrestle control back into my grasp. But now that Chara is in control, they have a lot more power than they had before. They giggle in victory, the sound is so disturbing that it causes Sans to take a step back.

I try to stop Chara from chuckling like a maniac. They refuse to listen to my pleas.

"K-kid?"

"I'm finally free."

Sans and I both have the same shocked look on our faces.

"You can talk?" Sans gives me—or Chara—an accusing look. I realize with horror that he must still think he's talking to me. I struggle in order to save him from Chara's wrath. Chara swipes me away like I'm a fly. When they finish toying with me, they decide to focus their attention back on Sans.

"I could always talk."

"Is that right?" Sans doesn't look pleased to hear this. He thinks that I tricked him. He thinks that I lied about not being able to speak. Thanks to Chara….

I put in extra effort to regain control.

"Yeah, you could say that," Chara laughs, "I guess you're not happy for me. You look ready to kill me. Are you gonna try, Sans?"

"I just…why didn't you tell anyone? Why lie about something like that?"

 _I didn't lie!_ I try to shout to him. _Chara is lying to you._

He doesn't hear me, of course. Chara is the only one who can hear me.

"I guess I found it funny making everyone think I was mute."

Sans' eye sockets grew wide.

"That doesn't sound like you at all. Don't you think your mother would want to know that you've been lying all this time? Look, I like a good prank as anyone, but that's going a little too far."

"Oh, spare me. I don't care."

"What was that?" Sans is obviously getting upset.

I'm all but flailing my non-arms around, trying to get my body back but stuck as a helpless spirit. Chara smiles that same wide, unnerving smile at Sans. To his credit, Sans isn't nearly as disturbed by it as I thought he would be.

The skeleton keeps his eye socket on Chara. It's like he knows what Chara had planned for him. Seeing him so cautious makes me both relieved and a little sad. Relieved because he knows when to be careful, but sad because he still thinks Chara is me.

Chara finally finishes with their little chuckling fit.

"Well? Aren't you going to do it, Sans? Aren't you going to kill me? Or do I have to kill everyone else first?"

I wish I never saw the look of pure betrayal that's on San's face right now. Suddenly, his eyeballs disappear, leaving nothing but emptiness in his sockets. I had only seen that expression once before, and I know it to be the look he has whenever he's deadly serious.

"You're pushing it, kid."

"Should I kill Mommy Toriel first?" Chara continues, tauntingly, "And then Undyne? And Alphys?"

"Kid!"

 _Chara, stop!_

But my pleas fall on deaf ears.

"Maybe I have to kill Papyrus first?"

With that, any apology that Sans had prepared for me is gone now. He bared his teeth in a threatening manner. His pupils are back, but that doesn't make his threatening expression look any more pleasant.

"You do it and you'll have a bad time."

"You sure about that? Maybe you'll be the one having a bad time?"

Chara chuckles. Sans glares at us.

"So is this the real you, Frisk? Are you just a punk? Are you going to reset so you can kill us? Heh. Maybe you've already did it. Tell me, Frisk. How many times have we had this exact same discussion? Not that I'm upset or anything. Just curious."

He shrugs as if he doesn't care. The look on his face tells me that's the furthest thing from the truth. Chara cackles.

"How scary is it, Sans? To know I might've killed your baby brother hundreds of times and you never know. Never remember."

And suddenly, a blue eye that I never knew Sans even had glows into his socket.

"You stay away from him."

"Or what?"

Chara cackles. I feel sick to my stomach. Sans looks ready to tear at my throat. I make one last attempt to regain my control. Chara tosses me away as easily as if I were a fly.

 _Stay there. I'll give you back control when I feel like it._

What is this feeling? It's fear like I had never felt it before. Like if I make one single wrong move, everything will crumble to pieces.

I am terrified.

Sans and Chara continue to stare like they're about to kill each other. I don't like the looks on either of their faces. I know right then and there that a war is coming.

I have to get control back before Chara kills anybody. I can't let them hurt anyone.

But all I can do now is struggle in vain.


	6. Chapter 6

**San's P.O.V.**

My one glowing eye stares through Frisk's smug expression. The longer I hold onto their gaze, the more damned giggles come out of their mouth. They're not the least bit intimidated by me. They're not about to apologize for threatening their friends and family. What's going on with this kid?

It's as if they're an entirely different person right now.

Is this their true character? Were all those acts of mercy just for show? I never imagined the kid would hurt somebody. True, I thought they would reset. But that's something completely different than this.

Their empty grin remains sprawled across their lips. Something about that smile is completely wrong. It's not something that belongs on Frisk's face. The human that spared everyone, including the king of all monsters, is now grinning like an evil child. Something is very wrong here.

I take in a breath. There's no point trying to figure them out. The only thing I can do now is damage control. I'm dealing with a ticking bomb here. The last thing I need to do is to provoke them. So instead of mentioning the threats, I decide to focus on another topic.

"Are you going to tell Tory or do I need to?" I ask them.

Frisk knits their brows in confusion, yet the smile stays.

"Tell her what, Uncle Sans?" they ask in mocked affection.

"That you can talk. I'm not keeping this from her and you're not either. So either you go up to her and admit it or I'll tell her for you."

Frisk giggles. I glare when the laughter reaches my meatuses. I guess that's my answer then. I exit the room and make my way downstairs. Toriel is seeing Asgore off at the front door. It looks like leaving is the last thing that Asgore wants to do.

He shuffles his feet, "Well, I guess I'll see all of you later then. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Don't come until you've been invited, Asgore," Toriel orders.

"...Okay..."

Toriel sucks in a deep breath. Asgore's pitiful acts are finally getting to her. She offers a pleasant smile in an attempt to be a little nicer to him.

"Have a nice day," she says kindly, then promptly shuts the door.

She turns to me, her expression going sour. It's little wonder that she's unhappy with me. I did make her human child cry, after all.

"Tory, I need you to come with me."

Confused, her face softens. "What for?"

"I need to show you something."

I head back upstairs, making sure that she is following. When we reach Frisk's room, the child is still smiling blankly at the door. They look more like a motionless doll than a human. Toriel stops in her tracks when she sees them.

I cross my arms as I give Frisk my most determined look.

"What do you gotta say for yourself?"

Frisk continues to smile. They're not uttering a word. I guess it's up to me.

I glance at the stunned woman, "I heard them talk."

Toriel, still in a trance by how creepy her own child looks right now, barely registers that I spoke. She blinks a bit until what I said clicks in her brain. She turns to me with wide eyes.

"What?"

"Frisk talked to me," I explain, "Like they _actually_ talked. They never needed to use sign language at all. I figured you should know."

Toriel inspects my face for any hint that I'm joking around, then she turns to look at Frisk.

"Is this true, my child?"

Dead grin still intact, Frisk raises their hand to perform sign language.

 **I don't know what Uncle Sans is talking about. He's acting funny, Mommy.**

I glower at them. Toriel crosses her arms at me.

"Are you drunk again?" she accuses. My jaw goes slack.

"What? No! They're lying to you. Frisk and I were having a discussion when all of the sudden they started talking. They even told me that they were always able to talk."

Toriel looks at Frisk for clarification. Frisk merely shrugs their shoulders with a bemused smile. I want to slap that kid. They have no idea how much wrong they're doing to Toriel.

"Frisk!" I scream, "You better fess up to her now or I'll-"

"Sans, can I talk to you? Alone?" Toriel doesn't wait for me to answer. She heads outside. Gulping, I follow the goat monster downstairs. She doesn't stop until we reach the kitchen. I guess she really wants to make sure that Frisk doesn't overhear us. She looks pointedly at me, her arms crossed in anger.

"Now what was that about?" she asks.

My voice gets trapped in my throat. What can I say? Frisk was able to convince her that I was lying, so anything I say can be held against me.

To my relief, Toriel's expression softens. The woman exhales slowly.

"I think you need to rest in your room," it's a simple suggestion, but still makes me feel like a child. She's basically asking me to take a nap because she thinks I'm throwing a tantrum.

I feel like a Royal Guard with its tail between its legs. I'm too ashamed to look at her as I leave.

Frisk might have beaten me today. But tomorrow, I'll prove to Toriel what kind of person they really are.

* * *

I pull myself out of my slumber. Groggy, my head lifts up to look out the window. It's so early that it's still dark outside. Not even the birds are up yet. I rub my sockets, then throw myself out of bed. Now that I'm rested, I can ponder my options.

Maybe Frisk didn't mean anything they said. Maybe they were just upset with me for making them cry. That makes sense. They only said those awful things to get a reaction out of me.

I decide that I would give them one more chance. I was rude to them last night, so it makes sense that they would say such cruel things. Besides, they wouldn't actually hurt anybody. Right?

This is the same kid that traveled the entire underground without raising their fist a single time. Their philosophy had always been to use kindness against violence. I can't believe that they would suddenly change their mind for no reason.

Once I assured myself of this, I head to the kitchen for some coffee. To my surprise, Toriel is there. She's wearing a baby blue robe complete with slippers made of fake fur. She has custom-made rubber gloves over her hands and is currently washing a bowl of blueberries over the sink. She turns and smiles at me, looking more like a mother than usual. I quickly get over my shock.

"You're up kind of early," I say.

"I need to make the pie beforehand. So that it can set in the fridge for a few hours," she explains, "It will taste better that way."

I smile, "So it's going to be an apple blueberry pie, then?"

"How did you know?" she is shocked until I point to the bag of apples across from her. Then she laughs, "Oh. Right. How silly of me."

"You _are_ acting kind of fruity," I agree with a large smile.

She responds, "I guess I'm _berry_ out of it today."

We share a laugh after that. The genuine puns send a wave of endorphins through me. I feel so alive. So filled with determination. Thanks to this old lady, I could handle another day. It's like we hadn't fought yesterday.

Toriel reaches for something, blinks once and looks at where her hand is. It's like she's seen a ghost.

I frown, "Something wrong?"

She turns to me.

"That's odd," she says, "The drawer is empty. But I'm sure this is where I keep all my knives."

I approach the desk. Like she said, it's completely empty. I glance up at her concern face before rushing to the dishwasher and opening it. My heart sinks to find it empty as well.

"Maybe I misplaced them," she proposes.

But I have a sinking feeling that it's not that simple. And I think Toriel has a bad feeling too. Something is off about this. Knives don't go running away on their own.

Papyrus suddenly enters the room looking like he's about to fall over. The state of my brother takes my mind off the knives.

"What happened to you? You look like you didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

Papyrus averts his gaze so that he's not looking directly into my eye sockets. He mumbles something.

I hold in a sigh, "I can't hear you, bro. Is everything okay?"

"Eh...yes. I just got back home, actually," Papyrus says more clearly.

Wha...wait a minute.

"What do you mean you just got back? Where've you been? Undyne doesn't make you train all night," my protective side is starting to show. But for once, I don't care. After what happened with Frisk, I'm not about to let my guard down.

"Oh...well...I was...looking for a job. Not that I have one yet. I'm still looking."

"Bro, not many places hand out applications at three in the morning."

Papyrus continues to flash a guilty grin, "Well I found a few that did."

I slap my forehead and take in a deep breath. The fleeting happiness I felt a few seconds ago is already gone. Replaced by worry and slight anger. It takes a lot for me to get angry at my brother, but Papyrus is pushing his luck. How many times do I got to tell him to stop before it gets through his thick skull?

"So no one hired you yet?"

"Erm...no."

"Good. I'll go talk to some of the folks at the underground. Maybe they'll be willing to hire you."

I'm about to leave but Papyrus stops me. His face is pleading.

"Um...but..."

"...But?"

"These humans don't take our G. I...I need to make human currency."

"Why do you need to buy anything from them?" I have a feeling that I already know the answer.

Papyrus doesn't say anything. He doesn't need to. I want to brush it off with a smile like I always do. But considering everything that happened, I'm not in the mood to play nice guy.

I glare at him. I actually glare at my brother. Papyrus takes a step back, clearly not expecting that kind of reaction from me.

"I told you a million times. I. Have. It. Under. Control. I don't need your help."

"Sans!" Toriel exclaims. But I'm not done.

"If you need to buy things, just buy it from monsters."

"But G is starting to lose all value," Papyrus argues.

"Then take advantage of it while you can. But you are not working with humans."

"What's wrong with working with humans?" my brother asks.

"They hate us!"

My scream echoes against the walls. Toriel has a hand over her mouth and her eyes are as wide as dinner plates. A soft shuffling breaks the tense silence, and we all turn to see Frisk rubbing their eyes. They glance at Toriel.

 **What's for breakfast?**

"My child! It's too early to wake up. You've only gotten six hours of sleep. You need at least two more," Toriel goes full on mother mode. She approaches the kid and rubs her hand across their hair. They smile.

 **Sans woke me up.**

Crap. Toriel glares at me. I swallow. Something catches my eye. I turn to look at Frisk's finger.

"Where'd you get that cut?" I ask partly out of genuine curiosity and partly to turn the attention off me.

Toriel gasps when she sees it. She inspects their finger before picking them up and carrying to the sink.

"How in the world did that happen? It's such a long cut. It couldn't have been from a stick," she continues to clean the wound as she says this. Frisk just shrugs, unhelpfully.

Suddenly I have a thought. I turn to Papyrus.

"We'll talk about this later."

"Sans-" Papyrus begins but I'm already out the room.

I rush upstairs as quickly as my bony legs could take me. I don't stop to take a breath. When I reach Frisk's room, I tear open the door and begin my frantic search. It takes a few minutes of tossing everything in the room until-

"Oh my God."

When I pull over their feather pillow, two knives greet me. Both very sharp. Both very long. One of them with a small splatter of blood on it. My heart stops at the sight of it. I could barely breathe for a moment.

"What are you doing, Uncle Sans?" Frisk's voice pulls me away from my trance. I look at the kid that I barely recognize.

Frisk really is like a completely different person. They glower at me with hate filled eyes, yet somehow keep their ugly smile intact. Their eyes are wide open, examining me with brown red orbs that seem to stare through me. The grin on their face doesn't hide the fact that they're very angry.

It's a disturbing sight, but I refuse to show any hint of fear. That's exactly what they want to see on my face. I give them a hard look instead.

"Hey kid," I grumble, "Where'd you get your new toys?"

The child giggled again.

"Aren't you going to be late for work, Uncle Sans?" they point to the clock on their wall.

"I think it will be better if I stay here," I argue.

"You're going to get fired," they say in a sing-songy voice.

That's true. But I can't leave them alone with the others while they're like this. It's the single hardest decision I had to make in a while. I'm going to let myself become jobless in order to protect those I care about.


End file.
